Standard of Care

The Law of American Bioethics

George J. Annas

Standard of Care

The Law of American Bioethics

George J. Annas

Description

American law, not philosophy or medicine, is the major force shaping American bioethics. This is both because law at its best fosters individual rights, equality, and justice, and because violation of the legal duty or "standard of care" a physician owes a patient can lead to a malpractice suit. The law has therefore had two conflicting impacts on medical ethics: the positive effect of eroding paternalism and replacing it with a patient-centered ethic; and the negative effect of encouraging physicians to be more concerned with avoiding litigation than doing the "right" thing.

Standard of Care explores the fundamental value conflicts confronting medicine and society by examining courtroom resolutions of real bioethical disputes, often of constitutional dimension. This case-based approach, which ranges from abortion to euthanasia, from AIDS to organ transplantation, from genetic research to the artificial heart and rationing, illuminates the value choices with which the power (and impotence) of medicine confronts us. George Annas urges health care professionals to go beyond the minimalist legal "standard of care" by promoting a vigorous, patient-centered medical ethics based on respect for human rights and responsibility to both patients and society. If modern medicine is to enhance human life, a reconceptualization of law as the beginning of ethical discourse, rather than as an instrument to end it, is essential. Such a discourse could enrich all our lives by helping us to articulate both a national and international agenda for human rights in health.

Standard of Care

The Law of American Bioethics

George J. Annas

Table of Contents

The U.S. Constitution and Bioethics PART I: Current Controversies 1. Brave New Medicine: Restricting Doctor-Patient Conversations2. Trend Surfing: The War on Drugs and Prisoners3. She's Going to Die: The Tragedy of Angela CarterPART II: Constitutional Rights at the Beginning of Life 4. The Supreme Court, Privacy, and Abortion5. The Short, Happy Life of Commercial Surgery6. A French Homunculus in a Tennessee CourtPART III: Constitutional Rights at the End of Life 7. The Insane Root Takes Reason Prisoner: The Supreme Court and the Right to Die8. In Thunder, Lightning or in Rain9. Legislating the Right to Die: In the Laboratory of the StatesPrivate Sector Bioethics PART IV: AIDS: Public andPrivate Obligations 10. Not Saints but Healers: Legal Duties of Physicians in the AIDS Epidemic11. Faith (Healing), Hope and Charity at the FDA: The Politics of AIDS Drugs TrialsPART V: Biotechnology and Commerce 12. Mapping the Human Genome and the Meaning of Monster Mythology13. Outrageous Fortune: Selling Other People's CellsPublic Sector Bioethics PART VI: Organ Transplants and Implants 14. The Politics of Fetal Tissue Transplants15. From Canada with Love: Death and Organ Donation16. Death and the Magic Machine: Consent to the Artificial HeartPART VII: Resource Allocation 17. Rationing Medical Care18. Minerva v. National Health Agency, 53 U.S. 2d 333 (2020)PART VIII: Killing 19. Siamese Twins: Killing One to Save the Other20. Killing MachinesHealth Law and Bioethics and the Millennium

Standard of Care

The Law of American Bioethics

George J. Annas

Author Information

George Annas, J.D., M.P.H., is the Edward R. Utley Professor of Health Law, and Director of the Law, Medicine and Ethics Program, Boston University Schools of Medicine, Public Health, and Law. He wrote a regular feature on health law and bioethics for The Hastings Center Report from 1976 to 1991, and since then has written regularly on "Legal Issues in Medicine" for the New England Journal of Medicine.

Standard of Care

The Law of American Bioethics

George J. Annas

Reviews and Awards

"Annas...is one of the top bioethicists in the US.... covers a wide range of issues in bioethics and the law. Every essay is interesting, important, and finely crafted.... highly recommended." --Choice

"Standard of Care brings together Annas's best essays in a well-organized and superbly crafted book that focuses on the most compelling ethical and legal issues of our time.... exceptionally well annotated, reflecting extensive research. Annas's lucid and cogent discussions draw from the legal, ethical, philosophical, sociopolitical, and economic literature.... Annas's thoughtfulness and intelligence are evident.... a pleasure to read. Annas is both concise and thorough. For those in the field of bioethics, this book is a must." --Theodore LeBlang, The New England Journal of Medicine

"This book is nothing if not up to date. But it is more.... the discussions are articulate, well researched, and clearly thought through.... puts the ethical basis of a host of modern medical problems in a legal setting that clarifies, not confuses, extraordinarily complex issues. It is understandable; it tells it like it is. Buy it." --JAMA

"This collection is a monument to the genre of constitutional rights-based health law writing in America.... Part one perhaps best illustrates Annas's strength - subjecting judicial reasoning to piquant analysis and framing certain practices in starkly provocative terms..." --Dermot K. Feenan, Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law

"A lively, insightful, and thought-provoking critique of our society's resort to law for the resolution of a variety of contemporary bioethical dilemmas.... Along with intellectual incisiveness, the author brings humanity and compassion to his subjects.... A true literary pleasure, both because the author's writing style is clear and engaging and because the essays are rich in literary allusions and analogies.... A valuable contribution to the field....I highly recommend the book for anyone-lay or professional-who wishes to deepen his or her understanding of American bioethics." --Charity Scott, JD, American Journal of Preventive Medicine

"Recommended as a book that alerts the reader to the wide-ranging debate concerning the interface between law, medicine and ethics. At the same time, it provides some guidelines for future legal decision-making in respect of these difficult issues." --Peter J.M. McFarlane, Faculty of Law, Queensland University of Technology, Australia, Bioethics